


Sinning With You

by UninspiredPoet



Series: Montevallo [4]
Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Acceptance, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Backstory, Childhood Sweethearts, F/F, Flashbacks, Homophobia, Religious Conflict, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-04-04
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23470873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UninspiredPoet/pseuds/UninspiredPoet
Summary: As charming as the South can be, Liadrin learned the hard way - as the daughter of a preacher - that sometimes you have to dig through a hell of a lot to find the silver lining.And Valeera was always the silver lining. She willalwaysbe the silver lining.
Relationships: Liadrin/Valeera Sanguinar
Series: Montevallo [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1300502
Comments: 11
Kudos: 41





	Sinning With You

**Author's Note:**

> _Raised in the first pew  
>  Praises for Yeshua  
> Case of a small town repression  
> Your body was baptized  
> So disenfranchised  
> I was your favorite confession_  
> 

**Liadrin would never get over the way the sun filtered through the blinds of their bedroom to play through the yellow of Valeera’s hair.**

**Yellow like sunrays and daisies and the good kind of hay you could only get in Montevallo. Liadrin had looked at her like this a thousand times.**

**In bedrooms. On bench seats. On the ridges of farm-terraced land as the sun rose over the field to warm the dew that covered the uncut bermudagrass that hid them. Protected them.**

**She’d been falling for so long. Over fifteen years, now.**

**Ever since the homeroom teacher in their little K-12 school told them they had a new student.**

**Ever since Liadrin’s eyes first landed on the first ‘different’ thing she’d ever seen in her tiny little sheltered life.**

**Before Valeera, it’d been easy to pretend. It’d been easy to play the role of the perfect preacher’s daughter. Who did good in school and kept her head down and knew every song at every worship service.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

”You’re so pretty right now.” Liadrin said with a faint smile as she looked over at Valeera with her head on the pillow they were sharing.

It was early, still. And it was Sunday. No class. Just...church.

But that wouldn’t be for a while, yet - and Liadrin’s bedroom door was locked. 

“Only right now?” Valeera asked as her fingertips played against Liadrin’s in the little space that was left between them. 

“All the time,” Liadrin whispered as her brow furrowed. "Every second of every day.” 

“Mm.” Valeera hummed her appreciation in the back of her throat and curled herself a little closer. 

They hadn’t done anything, of course. Just laid together through the night. Liadrin wasn’t ready. 

And for the first time, Valeera felt like she could’ve waited forever. 

“Do you think we could get away from here after the summer? Find a college to go to together? Get away from my dad? Get away from your parents?” 

Valeera’s expression sobered and she shifted up onto an elbow so she could reach out and try to tame the slight mess Liadrin’s auburn hair was currently in. “I’d follow you anywhere.” She finally whispered as Liadrin’s hand slid beneath Valeera’s side to touch along her back. “You know that, right?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Liadrin sat up slowly. Carefully. The last thing she wanted to do right then was wake Valeera up. Valeera had taught a late class at the dojo last night, and their schedules were both a little out of whack right now.**

**Besides, Liadrin had always had a difficult time waking Valeera up. She just always looked so...well. Perfect. All the time. After all these years.**

**Liadrin toyed with the wedding band around her ring finger for a moment as she sat on the edge of their bed and looked towards the window at the shadows of the morning birds flitting past leaving shadows on their blinds.**

**She needed to remember to pick up black-out curtains today. She was going to night-shift soon and she’d need them in order to sleep. Valeera had been on her about that since Liadrin told her she was going to be rotating soon.**

**But then, Valeera was always worried about her in one way or another. Marriage hadn’t changed that in the least.**

**Marriage.**

**Liadrin’s eyes trailed to the framed photo on her nightstand. It had been a candid shot. One they hadn’t been expecting.**

**It was taken during their wedding dance. Liadrin could still remember what she whispered that made Valeera look at her like that. Smile at her like that.**

**Like she’d hung every star in the heavens and the moon beneath them just for Valeera to look at every evening.**

**_“We did it. I told you we’d do it. I told you we’d make it.”_ **

**Liadrin slid slowly from the bed and shifted until her knees were pressed against the plush rug that spanned the hardwood floor of most of their bedroom. Her hands were clasped together and her face was pressed against them against the edge of their bed.**

**She prayed every morning.**

**She still prayed every morning.**

**And Valeera never made her feel any the lesser for it.**

****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another Sunday morning. Just like any other, really.

Aside from Valeera’s naked body under the sheets next to her. 

Liadrin’s cheeks still flushed each time she looked over. Her smile still widened into something ridiculous and uncontrollable as Valeera slept like a rock beside her. 

Or so she thought. Until the face pressed into the pillow shifted to reveal a faint smile - sleepy, but still present. 

“Hey,” Valeera whispered, her voice still rough with the sleep she’d just escaped from. But she was already reaching for Liadrin’s hand. Already pulling it towards her so she could press a series of soft kisses to her palm. 

“Hey,” Liadrin responded, moving closer to Valeera under the sheets so her equally naked skin could press to Valeera’s. 

The feeling made a thrill rush up her spine, and Valeera - perhaps sensing this - leaned up onto an elbow to press a gentle kiss to her laps. 

“You okay?” Valeera asked in a gentle murmur. “With what happened last night?” 

“Yes,” Liadrin responded with an almost shy laugh. “I...it was a lot...it was a lot better than I thought it’d be.” 

“Mmm.” Valeera turned that smile back against the pillow before finally moving to sit up. “Sometimes people just fit together, Liadrin. Sometimes they just work.” 

“Do we work?” Liadrin asked, looking up at Valeera like she was worshiping her as the impossibly long locks of her hair fell down around her chest and her shoulders. 

“Yeah,” Valeera replied with a soft chuckle. “We work.” 

“Liadrin!” 

Liadrin’s eyes widened as her attention shot to her door. 

“Liadrin! We’re going to be late for morning service! What the hell are you doing in there?” 

“What time is it?” Liadrin demanded in a hushed, frantic whisper as she scrambled out of bed and Valeera quickly began reaching for her clothes where they were scattered across the floor. 

But Liadrin’s father had a key. 

And when the door opened, Valeera had only just begun tugging her shirt down over her head. 

For a moment, they were both frozen. 

And the string of words that followed from Liadrin’s father were some that should probably never have left a preacher’s mouth. 

That morning, Valeera watched from across the street as Liadrin’s life came crashing down around her after she made an escape she wasn’t given much of a choice about. 

She listened to the thuds from the bedroom and watched far too few of Liadrin’s belongings come flying out the door...followed by Liadrin. 

The sound her body made when it hit the porch of the house and skidded towards the stairs was terrible. 

Just not as terrible as her sobs and her pleas as she frantically tried to gather her things in the yard. 

But the door was already shut. 

The lock was already latched. 

That night, Liadrin was sitting on the moldy couch in Valeera’s basement listening to Valeera have her turn at arguing with her parents. 

At least it didn’t turn violent. Not tonight, anyway. 

Not that they’d given them longer than just tonight to stay. 

Because Valeera had told them if Liadrin went so did she, and they’d been looking for an excuse for a long time. 

At least Liadrin didn’t spend the night alone on that terrible sofa. 

Instead, they took turns crying and apologizing and reassuring each other in such a terrible, endless cycle that it seemed it would never end. 

It was so long before either of them could speak coherently if they’d been anywhere but in a basement - they might have realized it was nearly dawn when Valeera finally managed a real sentence.

“We’re gonna figure it out.” It didn’t sound confident. Not at all. 

But they were both too worn for confidence. And Liadrin was nursing a nasty bruise that had bloomed across the side of her face. 

One that Valeera was currently pressing a bag of frozen peas to that she’d stolen from the chest freezer across the room. 

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do.” Liadrin whimpered as she pushed the bag away and leaned over her own legs with her arms wrapped around her stomach.

“No more you or me,” Valeera responded adamantly as she tugged Liadrin back up and pressed the peas back against her cheek. “Only us. We’ll figure it out together.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Liadrin stood slowly from the rug she’d been kneeling upon and checked that Valeera was still sleeping. Well, she’d meant to just check - but that turned into her walking over to Valeera’s side of the bed to touch her fingertips along the exposed expanse of her bare back. Just enough to make one of her ears twitch.**

**“Coffee?” Liadrin asked in a whisper.**

**Valeera shook her head.**

**“More sleep?”**

**Valeera nodded.**

**Liadrin smiled.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Liadrin couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she looked at herself in her dress uniform in the floor-length mirror. Valeera looked just as good.

Lireesa had come down to see about them both. She was only a quick horseback ride away, after all. 

It hadn’t taken Liadrin long to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. 

Not after Lireesa took them both in. Not after Lireesa gave them a real, fair shot at a start in this little ranch-hand cottage. 

Not after she’d shown them what it was like to have a family that loved you for absolutely all that you were. Not after Lireesa had shown her that there was good in this world, and it was worth protecting. 

And besides, the cottage was feeling a little small, these days. It was about time they struck out on their own. Soon. Or...soonish, anyway. 

“Are you coming?” Liadrin asked suddenly, finally managing to tear her attention away from her own reflection in the mirror long enough to look at Lireesa over her shoulder. 

“Nothing in this world could make me miss this,” Lireesa responded warmly, reaching out with a little cloth to give the badge on Liadrin’s chest one last, quick polish. 

“Look at you both…” Lireesa remarked, her eyes slightly glassy as Valeera walked towards Liadrin with her white dress gloves in hand for her. “Stunning. I’m so proud.” 

“Lireesa, I...I could never thank you for what you’ve done for us.” Liadrin said quietly as she took her gloves from Valeera. “I don’t know what we would’ve done if-”

“No ‘if’s.” Lireesa responded simply, not even letting Liadrin finish. “I love the both of you like you are my own. No ifs or maybes here. Understood? Now, let’s go. I’ve got the heater on in the car.” 

The drive was entertaining to say the least. What, with Sylvanas deciding what the best nickname for her new narc best friend was - and Valeera staring down at the floorboard trying to ignore the fact that she’d done more wrong in a few short years than anyone in this car. 

Not that Liadrin wasn’t well aware. 

But they were both changing.

If anything was proof enough of that, it was the sight of Liadrin on stage with the rest of her graduating class swearing their oaths. Swearing to serve and protect this little town and everyone in it, all for their own individual reasons. 

Liadrin’s were simple. 

She never wanted anyone to grow up like Valeera had. Or like she had. 

Liadrin wanted to make a difference. And she wanted to protect her family. Her _real_ family. Not the one that had turned their back on her two years ago, now, and not made a single effort to reach out since. 

Well, as far as she knew, anyway. 

She didn’t need to know that Lireesa had slipped away in response to something whispered into her ear. 

She didn’t need to know that Lireesa was standing in the entrance of the city hall building standing toe-to-toe with Liadrin’s father. 

“What are you doing here, preacher?” Lireesa asked cooly with a slight tilt of her head. 

“I hear my daughter is finally making things right. I’m here to see that with my own eyes. I’m here to offer her a second chance.” His voice was even colder than Lireesa’s. Full of empty power and meaningless authority. 

“You’ve got that a little backward. You should’ve begged her for a second chance the day you put her out on the street.” Lireesa responded, utterly unshaken. Utterly unshakable. Always. 

“Do you not know who I am, Windrunner? I know your family is new around these parts, but I am a man of _God_ and I will not be spoken to the way you are speaking to me.”

Lireesa scoffed. She even had the audacity to sneer. And it was worth it for the vein that began showing itself in the preacher’s forehead. 

“Listen. If you stepped foot in this building, God would leave, I can assure you. That girl has found more religion in the past two years than you shoved in her throat for almost two decades. And you’d find all of it unacceptable, trust me.”

The preacher stood there with his jaw clenched so hard it looked like it must have hurt. 

Good. 

“She doesn’t need you,” Lireesa spoke more quietly now. “She doesn’t need you to try and change her or fix her. She doesn’t need whatever it is that you _think_ God is. So stay wherever it is that you’ve been for the past two years, and know that she’s going to make more of a difference than you could ever hope to make. She’s twenty years old. And you have nothing to hold over her.” 

He started to say something, and Lireesa made a face that must have made him think otherwise. “You didn’t even keep a roof over her head, Preacher. You didn’t even keep a roof that your congregation pays for over her head. Go back to your flock. Your sheep. What you’re looking for? It isn’t here.” 

Before he could say something in a rather public place that might taint his image, he turned on his heel and nothing short of stormed back down the steps of City Hall. 

Lireesa’s expression shifted from anger to regret when she turned to see Liadrin looking at her from around the corner. 

Her arms uncrossed from her chest immediately. 

“Liadrin, you...you weren’t supposed to…” 

Before Lireesa could even begin to find the words, Liadrin was hugging her. 

She was hugging her so tightly it felt she might never let go. 

At least not until Valeera came looking for her. 

Because it was time to dance. 

And of course, Lireesa nudged Liadrin along. 

Of course, Lireesa wanted Liadrin to be with Valeera, right now. 

Truth be told, Lireesa had never really believed in God. 

But she believed in the two young women walking inside and towards the dance floor. 

She believed in them a whole hell of a lot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**Valeera smiled when she finally opened her eyes to find a lidded, insulated cup of coffee on her nightstand.**

**Because Liadrin knew that ‘no’ always meant ‘yes’ when it came to coffee. It just meant…’later yes’, really. Hence the double-walled, metal coffee mug she’d purchased for her wife years and years ago.**

**Liadrin, herself, was sitting at the desk across the room working on polishing her boots for work the next morning.**

**“Baby?” Valeera whispered as she sat up slowly in bed and let the sheets fall away from her chest. “What are you doing? It’s Sunday. We’re supposed to relax today.”**

**Liadrin’s eyes lifted as slowly and easily as the smile spread across her face. She put her boot down and placed the brush and polish she’d been working with back in their wooden box and latched it.**

**“I was just waiting for you to get up.” Liadrin responded as she stood up and moved towards the bed.**

**They’d both learned a lot over the years.**

**Liadrin, for instance, had learned that you didn’t have to go to church to worship.**

**She’d learned there were many ways to worship.**

**She’d learned that Valeera deserved to be worshipped on Sunday mornings with the sun in her hair and Liadrin’s name on her lips.**

**And Valeera had learned that she didn’t mind the smell of shoe polish.**

**She’d even started to like it, if she was being entirely honest with herself.**

**She’d also become very skilled at pretending to be asleep while Liadrin prayed.**

**Every morning.**

**She just didn’t know that Liadrin spent every morning on her knees thanking whoever would listen for her wife.**

**For the life that they’d built together out of nothing - with a little help along the way.**

**She just didn’t know that Liadrin prayed for her.**

****

"Sinning With You"  
Sam Hunt

Raised in the first pew  
Praises for Yeshua  
Case of a small town repression  
Your body was baptized  
So disenfranchised  
I was your favorite confession

My past was checkered  
Your spotless record  
Was probably in jeopardy  
Your place or my place  
His grace and your grace  
Felt like the same thing to me

I never felt like I was sinning with you  
Always felt like I could talk to God in the morning  
I knew that I would end up with you  
Always felt like I could talk to God in the morning

If it's so wrong why did it feel so right?  
If it's so wrong why'd it never feel like  
Sinning with you?  
Sinning with you

I felt closer to the stars with you  
I felt forgiveness in my heart with you  
Saw the light in the dark with you  
Felt like I could fly

Take me down where the river is  
Pull me under in your innocence  
I wasn't in it for the hell of it  
I guess that's why

I never felt like I was sinning with you  
Always felt like I could talk to God in the morning  
I knew that I would end up with you  
Always felt like I could talk to God in the morning

If it's so wrong why did it feel so right?  
If it's so wrong why'd it never feel like  
Sinning with you?  
Sinning with you

I hate it when I can't feel the Holy Spirit

I know what it feels like crossing the line  
But I never felt shame  
Never felt sorry  
Never felt guilty touching your body  
As long as you're for me  
As long as I'm for you  
Who could be against us, baby?

If it's so wrong why did it feel so right?  
If it's so wrong why'd it never feel like  
Sinning with you?  
Sinning with you


End file.
